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MICHAEL
T'''he '''Martian Initiative for the Control of Hazardous or Anomalous Entities and Lifeforms, or simply MICHAEL, was a human initiative led by the leaders of several planetary governments as a secret organisation to enforce and guarantee the safety of humanity from the unknown cosmic forces and dangers of the final frontier. MICHAEL was responsible for not only responding to anomalous events and artefacts, but was also responsible for containment, research, development, and mass documentation. MICHAEL was authorised to use lethal force when required to. The Facility itself, despite being secret, was so large and its influence so widespread that it had to be policed by itself. History MICHAEL, in broad terms, existed in many forms across hundreds of years, with many groups taking the general initiative to collate information on the supposed supernatural. Much research that goes as far back as 1700's Earth was eventually included and credited to MICHAEL predecessors. These precursors did not have the resources and secretive agenda of the future Facility would come to be infamous for. The group that became MICHAEL only existed in an official capacity with the founding of CSICOP in 1975, with founding members Paul Kurtz, Carl Sagan, and Isaac Asimov acting as the first Co-Directors. While ostensibly a public non-profit, the groundwork was laid in secret to create what they hoped would become an organisation well equipped enough to quell any fears among humanity of space travel and scientific progress in general. Standing for 'Committee of Skeptical Inquiry', the fledgling group hoped to achieve this through being able to accurately report any extraordinary claims that had arisen. CSICOP would face mixed results through to the mid 21st century, with fears and superstition still prevalent through humanity's technological progression. When the first Mars colony was constructed in 2069, civilisation as a whole had a regained interest in space travel technology, and governments around the world invested in new technologies such as NQFTL space travel, the perfection of fusion technology, and the ever-expanding manipulation of human genetics and biology. This lead to many unrestrained researchers experimenting with unprecedented power that put humanity's position in space very fragile. It was when a UMC-sponsored researcher was declared missing after traveling at half of light speed in an attempt to travel forward that CSICOP decentralised itself as an American organisation, and shifted its focus to basing itself at a secretive 'Facility' on Mars to keep tabs on theoretical research on the planet as well as other colonies. As space colonisation continued to be profitable into the 22nd century, the Martian Initiative had found its share of donors in backroom donations and seizing of assets that it managed to become a much more powerful organisation. It began to catalogue any and all possible threats to humanity, including other groups, Silhouette Technologies being the most prominent. By the 23rd century, MICHAEL had established first contact with a non-human sentient life form, recorded several instances of successful time travel, and had accurately recorded the effects of dimensional tampering. Jurisdiction MICHAEL's authority consists of the overriding authority of the following planetary governments: * United Nations of Earth * Unified Martian Colonies * Government of Europa * Titan Supreme Council Being a shadow figure, it had no real official authority. However, by the time it became known to more influential groups such as Silhouette Technologies, it was already so powerful that its authority was uncontestable. MICHAEL was able to police entire sections of the galaxy, reroute and detain solar traffic, research weapons of Mass Destruction, and other business that would normally have been outlawed and acted upon by other officials such as the UNE. Roles The Director The Director was the highest acting administration of MICHAEL, and had absolute veto power. The last known Director, in power at least since 2256, was Director Thomas Wong. However, almost nothing was ever known about any acting Director, as their power was so great that information about them was highly classified. Assistant Director Assistant Directors acted as leadership and management. Collectively, they had enough say to rival any other position, superseded only by the decision of the Director. A collective decision made by Assistant Directors could not be rivalled by even the full panel of the Eyes of Virtue. Eyes The Eyes were the policing and logistics force of the MICHAEL facility, both within and outside of the facility itself. It was responsible for policing the actions of MICHAEL internally, with ultimate ethical decision handed down from a committee of Eyes named the Eyes of Virtue. Outside of the facility, Eyes were responsible for coordinating with the Hands in responding to anomalies, recovering technology and artefacts, and enforcing peace. Minds The Minds were the research and development scientists of the facility. They had less authority than Eyes, and were responsible for the massive amount of new discoveries and data the facility brought in at a constant pace. * Physics ** The physics branch of MICHAEL researched and developed matters on the topic of thermodynamics, universal law, mathematical constructions, and other matters related to the fundamental working of science. *** Temporal **** The temporal branch of MICHAEL was smaller and less known. While technically falling under the jurisdiction of the physics branch, it was specifically put together to handle matters on space-time and time travel. *** Dimensional **** The dimensional branch of MICHAEL was a much newer branch that researched and developed technology to learn more about dimensional travel, multi-dimensional theory, and the theory of the universe at large. * Biology ** The biology branch of MICHAEL researched and developed matters on the topic of organic life, anomalous life, extra-terrestrial objects in origin, and other matters related to life both human and not. * Chemistry ** The chemistry branch of MICHAEL researched and developed matters on the topic of chemical weaponry, biochemistry, foreign matter, radioconstitution, and other matters related to chemical handling. Hands The Hands were responsible for upholding galactic security. Hands were authorised to utilise deadly force and mass destruction as long as it followed protocol under the ultimate goal to preserve as much human life as possible. They are coordinated by the Eyes and act as MICHAEL's "army". Hands were referred to as Agents informally. Assets MICHAEL had plenty in terms of financial support as well as material import. They possessed high-tech solutions for warfare, transportation, and data storage. It's most important upper hand was its secrecy, which allowed it to operate across the galaxy without being impeded by regulations or by other governments. Another closely-guarded asset was its staff. Among the most notable members of MICHAEL were Hazel Everglade and Keine Grenzhur. Relations MICHAEL regards Silhouette Technologies as a hazardous entity due to its repeated tendency to perform morally dubious and highly dangerous experimentation and research. It is constantly under surveillance by MICHAEL agents. Trivia * MICHAEL originally stood for the Martian Initiative for the '''Containment' of Hazardous or Anomalous Entities or Lifeforms''. Category:Factions